On Tuesday, July 8, 2014, a child age 3, Thomas Stephens, while playing unsupervised at Ms. Janna’s Daycare in Alpharetta, Georgia, died by accidentally hanging himself on a piece of twine attached to a slide on the playground equipment at said Daycare.
According to State Records, this particular daycare was cited earlier this year for other safety violations in and around the play area outdoors such as nails protruding out of a wooden ladder on the wooden climber, too many tree limbs and pine cones, an untangled water hose, and the like. It has not been said if the daycare was inspected again after being cited for said safety violations to insure that the violations had been corrected as such.
After the incident on July 8th, the daycare was immediately Ordered Closed by by the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, also known as DECAL. Although the case seems to be accidental, there is an active, ongoing investigation. Regardless of whether or not any criminal charges are filed, there will most likely be a civil suit brought by the parents of young Stephens for the Wrongful Death of their Son.
This is a sad story and our sympathies reach out to little Thomas Stephens’ family. It is imperative that daycare centers in Georgia and any facility who takes care of young children have the appropriate certifications, and that the staff are appropriately trained as such. The Daycare in which this death took place had been in operation for approximately 25 years.
According to DECAL, beginning in February, 2009 it has been required that annually all day care providers in existence and the staff must complete 10 hours of training specifically about the care of children. The Georgia Training Approval is a part of the Georgia Early Care and Education Professional Development System (GECEPDS) that is meant to promote and provide professional development for those in the child care industry by encouraging such individuals to continue their professional growth in this industry through training from state approved and accepted programs, colleges and universities, and experience in the field.
When you are selecting a daycare for your child, it is important that you ask whether or not said daycare has met the standards set forth by DECAL, and whether or not the staff have taken additional training and, if so, in what ways and how often, and what, if any, other certifications or eduction the staff and all that are involved with your child are trained for this type of work.
At Julie A. Rice, Attorney at Law, & Affiliates, we are advocates of Safety for Children and if you or a loved one have been injured or killed in a daycare setting, or any other setting, then please kindly Contact Us by any of all of the following means for your free legal consultation: By phone at 770-865-8654, (813) 363-6664; By email at juliericelaw@outlook.com; By the Contact Form on this Website; and/or By Contacting Us on our website. We are here to make sure that your child is safe under all circumstances, and that if your child is injured by the negligence of another that you receive the just compensation that you deserve.